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Friday, June 1, thirty-two days after prom.
I’m losing track of the time. Days and weeks have passed since I’ve been kidnapped, and my cell phone ran out of juice a while ago.
Aiden only has physically visited me in the vocivus room twice. The last time was when he confirmed to me that he is all the evil my mind has made him into and yesterday.
What changed? He seems different somehow.
I feel his presence in the room almost daily. I wonder why he’s spying on me?
I’m still consistently being fed.
My life has become a monotonous existence.
With nothing else to do, I flip on the Light to the mirror and catch up on what my friends are doing. It makes me sad that I’m not with them and if I think about it for too long, seeing them all makes it worse.
I haven’t watched the mirror in a couple of days, ever since I saw the mass flooding and Sidelle trying to stop the water all on her own.
Sidelle appeared near a body of water, and I didn’t know where or what she was doing, until the water came down as a torrential downpour and didn’t seem to want to stop. The streets flooded with vehicles being swept away. I witnessed people drown and others become stranded within their homes as the water rose at least ten feet. My heart broke, and my only consolation was that they weren’t alone when they died. I was there in spirit. My heart ached for all the people who were saved or rescued.
But now I want to know. No, I need to know what else is going on in the world. I wonder what Shay’s doing while the weird weather events kept Sidelle and Kieran busy.
Today, a desert appears on the screen with a city’s lights in the background. It’s dusk or dawn, I can’t tell which quite yet. Reds, pinks, and yellows color across the vast sky. The sun peaks above the horizon, casting much needed light on the area. The famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign is still lit. Warm light crawls, brightening up everything in its path. Blue skies above gently kiss the land. I briefly wonder who’s in the Sin City and why.
Heat waves rise from the ground, creating mirages of hope. It’s too early in the morning for such temperatures. The wind picks up and blows sand and tumbleweeds across the flat landscape.
The sun is soon high in the sky, and the city’s lights flicker. Some shut off and stay dark. It’s like the timestamp on the mirror is in fast-forward mode, moving ahead hours at a time. The earth cracks of dryness. Flowers wilt. Grass turns brown and shrivels.
Hardly any people are parading around as the Vegas strip is scanned over. I thought it’s a city that never sleeps, but today it’s too hot. In the alleys and under bridges, the homeless die first. Their skin leathers to dark brown; their bodies cannot stand the heat any longer. Hospitals are filled to the brink of patients needing to cool down. The generators can barely keep up.
More lights turn off as if to say, “I’m dying.”
I’m still wondering why it’s showing me this city when a black SUV comes into the frame. The license plate says: BELLATOR.
Vash?
The windows are so dark I can’t see in them, so I don’t know if there’s a passenger or not. They are driving out of town, nearing the airport. But they don’t go to the main terminal; instead, they head toward a smaller one with a waiting private jet.
Of course.
The passenger side door opens and out steps Shay.
He’s wearing all black. Gosh, he must be baking in that. His hair is a bit ruffled and strapped across his back I can see his Nephilim Sword. In fact, his arms and legs are also strapped with knives or daggers. He rakes a hand through his blond hair and pulls off his black shades as he wipes his brow with the back of his hand.
Vash speaks to him and Shay nods. They meet in the back of the SUV and unload two bags. Someone grabs the gear and places them into the belly of the plane. I watch them board and close the door.
The screen changes back to the city in a panoramic view.
The extremely dry air has cracked the earth open. It looks like a turtle’s shell. Valleys are forged, and the earth breaks apart. My heart sinks at the thought that the land is dying from the extreme lack of water.
The stars of twilight give no reprieve.
Now, there are no humans on the streets or sidewalks.
The final lights are turned off, and the city is blanketed in darkness, expect for the eerie glow from the moon.
The mirror zooms out, and more cities are turning dark. Power is being lost on a massive scale. Soon, it could reach Los Angeles.
Small towns are showing people huddled inside their homes, eating what they have left on their shelves. Water from faucets drip into bowls as they ration it within their families.
The reservoirs are dry.
People will die of heatstroke, thirst, and hunger.
I have no idea how many days it took for the heatwave to claim so many lives, but the mirror is littered with tiny dots floating toward the Heavens. I stop counting because I know what they are and what it means.
The purple Light flickers off, and I sit on my own bed in darkness. My shoulders heave from crying. And I cry harder, thinking that’s what those people needed, water from my own tears.
How can Aiden let all this happen?
“Aiden, you get your sorry wings in here this instant. If you know what’s good for you at all, you better not ignore me.” I stand and get ready to glare or fight as soon as I see the black of his feathers. “How can you do this? Why are you keeping me here?” I scream at the top of my lungs, letting all my frustration and sorrow release from my body. “I know you can hear me. Stop being a scaredy cat and face me.”
“You rang, my Sweet?” Aiden’s form appears. “You can lower your voice. I think all of—oops. I almost told you where you are. No one else can hear you but me, and you only have to whisper for me to hear you.” He leans against the wall. “Now, what did you want?”
Usually, I can see through his body but not now. Is he a solid form? “I know it’s you who has been destroying the cities with flooding and droughts.” I take a menacing step closer to him.
“Oh, and don’t forget that all the world’s volcanoes erupted and spread toxic ash into the skies and smoking lava coats the lands.” He wags his finger at me.
“Why? Why would you do this?”
“It’s in my nature.” He shrugs. “Why not? I can, so I do.”
“But you haven’t always been evil. You weren’t when we first met.”
“You don’t know me, or what I’ve done in the past.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s what you do with the present to change your future that matters.”
“You’re such an optimist.” He picks his perfect fingernails, bored.
“And you’re a pessimist.”
“I am what I am. Nothing will change that. Not even if I wanted it to.”
“That’s not true. If you want to be different, you can be.”
“Not for me.”
“All those people and animals.”
“They die. It’s the circle of life.”
“But you ended their lives early.”
“And who’s to say that it wasn’t their time?”
“I saw the masses of souls leave Las Vegas.” I shuffle a couple steps closer. “I know what it means. They died, and it’s your fault.”
“It is,” Aiden agrees. “You don’t understand.”
“Tell me and help me understand.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is.” I stand in front of him and reach out, grabbing the sides of his lips. “You move your mouth like this.” My fingers land on his smooth face and do not go through his form. A numb, tingling feeling spreads down my arms and into my chest. “See, it’s that easy.” If sparks could fly out of my fingers, I think they would.
My eyes seek his.
Black hooded orbs stare down on me.
They flash red, and he glances away, shaking his head. He steps back.
I drop my hand.
“No.” His brows scrunch. “Not for me,” he says again. Resolved, his wings extend, forcing me back a few more steps.
Our moment is over.
Anger blinks across his face.
“Now, stay in here and be a good girl. Everything will be over soon.”
Aiden disappears from the room, leaving me ... how? And what was that when I touched his face? I only know one other person who affects me like that with a strange electrical current.